Growing Up
by itsu-sual
Summary: Cartoonverse. It's nearly Lydia's sixteenth birthday. But Beetlejuice isn't ready for her to grow up. Slight BeetlejuiceLydia.


It was Lydia's sixteenth birthday in two days.  
But instead of worrying what to buy for her, Beetlejuice's mind was on other things.

One particular memory had been plaguing him.

---

It was when Lydia was still twelve, and after a long day of pulling pranks on the Monster across the street she had gone back to the real world. Beetlejuice remembered it clearly - waving goodbye to her and looking forward to tomorrow's games, and when the door to the real world had closed he'd taken a deep breath of the night air, snatched a passing bug and chewed it happily.

Jacques and Ginger were waiting at the front door when he faced the Roadhouse.  
"Be-atlejuice…can we talk to you for a moment, ma friend?" Jacques began awkwardly.  
"Sure, whatever," Beetlejuice said with his usual grin, disguising his unease. It wasn't like them to try and make him be serious.

The three sat down in the living room of the Roadhouse.  
"Well, you know how old Lydia is, right?" Ginger said.  
"Yeah…"  
"And 'ow ze children, zey change at zis age."  
"So what?"  
"We just…well…we wanted to warn you that Lydia isn't gonna be a little kid forever, you know?" Ginger mumbled.  
"When she starts to change, you need to give 'er space!" Jacques nodded.  
"And she's gonna be more interested in boys and make up and clothes and stuff!"  
Beetlejuice looked disgusted. Lydia? Boys? Make up?  
"Your disgusting pranks won't amuse her when she is grown up, mon amis."

The spider and skeleton went on at him for what seemed like hours; but for once, Beetlejuice took it seriously all on his own.  
And when they were done, Beetlejuice went to his coffin and lay there, their words echoing around his head.

"Beej, you look awful," Lydia commented the next day. He hadn't slept at all.  
"Why thank you, Babes!" Beetlejuice replied with a cackle, even though Jacques and Ginger's words were still all he could think about.

But then Lydia smiled up at him innocently, and he couldn't resist giving her a possessive hug.  
Well, everyone has to grow up one day, he thought.

But not today.

---

He held a tiny, striped box in his dirty hands - he knew Lydia wouldn't be too fussed if the outside was a bit messy.  
"So long as the present inside is clean," he laughed weakly, straightening the ribbon wrapped around it.

Though he tried to hide it, Ginger could see that Beetlejuice was worried; and Ginger was sure that, the way he kept sitting in the middle of the room just holding the tiny present, it was about Lydia.  
"What's up?" she smiled widely, dangling in front of him. She didn't really expect an honest answer. Which is why she fell off her spider string when he took a deep sigh and mumbled "Lyds".

"I knew it!" grinned Ginger, picking herself up again. "What about her?"  
"You remember when you told me she was gonna change?"  
"Sure," nodded the spider.  
"Well…she hasn't. She still loves my pranks, she's still obsessed with photography, she still wears that red cape, her hair is the same (well, maybe a little longer, you know what I mean?), and…yeah."

Ginger scratched her head.  
"But…isn't that a good thing for you?"  
"No!" he snapped back, "'Cause the older she gets the more inevitable it gets! She never talks about boys, she doesn't go on about make up and clothes, she doesn't go partying with her friends, she doesn't like going to the mall, or anything like that! But she's gonna change one day and it just gets closer and closer and closer and closer and…" he paused for breath.

"Well…maybe she just doesn't talk about that stuff with you?" she suggested.  
"But best friends tell each other everything!" he retorted angrily.

Ginger was glad when Jacques came into the room - she didn't really know what to say.

---

Beetlejuice stared at the lid of his coffin. In just a few hours, Lydia would be sixteen, and he had to put on a happy face for her.

But his mind was racing, trying to think of times Lydia had mentioned boys or boyfriends or make up or any of that teenager stuff he despised so much. He remembered her talking about Bertha's boyfriend, and Prudence's admirer; he remembered various Neitherworld citizens proposing to her (that damn Prince Vince!), and the time when Ginger and Lydia had gone shoe shopping together at one of the Neitherworld's more upmarket malls. But for the real world - nothing.

"Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!"

He suddenly found himself lying on Lydia's carpet.

"Babes, it's two in the morning. Shouldn't you be asleep?" he said, pretending to sound sleepy.  
She came and stood over him silently. He looked up at her. Despite the darkness, he could see that her eyes were puffy and red.

"Babes?" he whispered, sitting up quickly. She sniffed.  
In one movement he stood up and scooped Lydia into his arms. He carried her back to the bed and sat her down gently, placing himself next to her. "Lydia?"

When she didn't answer, he frowned.  
"Who upset you? Tell me! I'll get 'em for you Babes!" he growled.  
"No, Beej," she whispered, and leant her head on his shoulder. He put his arms around her protectively.

"I don't want to be sixteen," she sighed.  
"Know what?" he grinned down at her. "I don't want you to be sixteen either."  
"Oh?" she smiled weakly. He blushed, not sure what to say next.  
"Beej…I'm not happy in the real world. Bertha and Prudence just talk about make up and boys and shopping and they don't have time for me anymore. And then there's Delia, she's always trying to get me to go on dates with her rich friends' sons. And…and even my dad! He's all 'You can't live off photography, why won't you look at the future realistically?' and then…and…"  
"And you just wanna be you?"  
"Exactly!" Lydia began to sob into his shoulder. He pulled her closer to him.

"I like you just the way you are, Lyds," he whispered, "and…I get scared when I think about you growing up and stuff…I don't wanna lose my best friend. The afterlife would be pretty boring without you…"

She looked up at him.  
"The older I get, the more time I spend in the Neitherworld - more than in the real world, BJ. You won't lose me," she smiled.  
He grinned, feeling reassured.

"Hey, it's nearly 3am! You're gonna be sixteen in a minute!" he pointed at Lydia's clock, "gimme a sec!"

Beetlejuice scrambled into Lydia's mirror. She watched him, feeling a bit lost and confused, but just as suddenly he tumbled out the mirror again, holding a tiny box with black and white stripes and a black bow.

"Happy birthday, Lyds!" he smiled and held the box out to her.  
"Can I open it now?" she giggled, taking the box.  
"Well it is three now, that makes you a sixteen."

She pulled the bow off and opened the box.  
Inside was a tiny, plain, gold ring. "It's so pretty…" she said quietly, a little surprised.  
"Wait! Don't put it on yet!" He snatched it from her, and she looked at him with a bewildered expression. "It's not just any old ring you know."  
"Is it magic?" interrupted Lydia.  
"No. Even more special. It's a promise ring!" he said proudly. "So as long as you wear it, you have to keep a promise with me."  
"You know I always keep my promises," laughed Lydia, "unlike you!"  
"Shh. It's a promise that we'll always be best friends. Do you promise?"  
"Forever and ever!" she beamed, and he slipped the ring onto her finger.

That same innocent smile from four years ago. He held her possessively and she laughed into his shoulder.

Forever and ever…he trusted that.

a/n - eep, my first beetlejuice fanfiction o: lydia and beetlejuice are my favourite pairing ever but i guess you can take this one whichever way you want, really. i don't own either of them!


End file.
